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Morning After Pill Coming to a Town Near You

by Anai Rhoads
Veriana Media

16 December 2003

Barr Laboratories, maker of the Plan B brand morning after pill, discussed plans with the The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tuesday to allow the morning after pill to be sold over-the-counter.

Although the sale will help minimise abortion and eliminate almost all unwanted pregnancies, some may question the safety of the product. The FDA claims emergency contraception is taken with little incidence by nearly 2.4 million women annually.

The question remains if this will cause complacency among younger women who may use it as birth control rather than looking into better alternatives to prevent pregnancy altogether. It is widely agreed that health care bills seem to deter proper medical supervision for termination services and many will take permission to buy over-the-counter to their advantage.

The FDA has requested data from its advisors on this topic, hopefully determine once and for all if the morning after pill should be readily sold to consumer. The decision is not final as of yet, but it is inching its way closer.

The drug itself is not completely foolproof. According to Barr Laboratories, using the pill within three days post-unprotected intercourse, the user only has an 89% chance of termination. The remainder 11% uncertainty will fail to abort the unwanted pregnancy. As a means of birth control, this method may be viewed as secondary to an actual abortion.

If the FDA approves over-the-counter sale, the next hurdle is whether it will be behind-the- counter or public shelf sale. Already five states permit women to purchase emergency contraception without a prescription. These states include Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington State.

© Copyright 2003 Anai Rhoads. Veriana Media. This written work is protected by international copyright laws. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright protected material. If you are interested in reprinting this article and obtaining proper licenses, please contact Veriana Media